Bloated Oscar for over a week, acts fine

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sevenspeed

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 23, 2007
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Parma, MI
I just thought my 7" Oscar was constipated almost 2 weeks ago so I fasted him. After days or so I got worried and moved to a 10 Gallon hospital tank with extra filtration. He or she acts normal but has a swollen stomach with no scales raised and a bit of white something poking just barely out the butt.

Could it be eggs? It's kept with a pike cichlid and they seem to be friends. Put the pike in the hospital tank yesterday because it refused to eat after I took the Oscar out so after a week I reunited them. I fed the pike 1 or 2 pieces of food for some nutrition but in that small tank i don't want them making a mess. The Oscar will not eat peas and I finally gave in and gave it 1 Hikari Bio-Gold pellet. The first day in the small tank I got it to eat a Dianichi Color FX which made some stringy poop the next day. It just spits it back out if I try again, same with cooked and shelled frozen peas (cooled of course.)

The first couple days I just did Epsom Salt and a touch of aquarium salt. After that I worried of something else and could not seem to find an exact fit on the net so I have been doing Melafix for a week and Jungle Parasite cure twice with a water change.

What could it be and any suggestions? Am I just stoopid and it's full of eggs? I really want to save him/her. I did read in an old book about using a needle to remove whatever fluid buildup but I'm very hesitant to try that. As I mentioned he does sulk a bit but not so much now that the pike is with him, swims around his tiny tank and looks at me as well as begs for food. No odd behaviour or abnormal swimming patterns. He did lay on his side alot before I moved him but I had cleaned the tank and he's a bit of a scardy cat.
 
I tried a triple dose (over a couple days) of Jungle Anti-Parasite as well as Melafix and epsom salt. No change so yesterday I moved him back to the big tank after running carbon in it. It's just his stomach that's bigger, the rest of his body is fine. At least no change for the worse.

I'll have to go out of town and get some of the meds suggested, they didn't have local but did have Jungle tabs that had that in in with three other things.
 
I'm trying to kill the fish but it won't die.....
Not on purpose, for starters I woke up today and the tank temp which I had dialed in to 82-84 degrees before it got warm outside was 100, stupid store brand heater but it was the only one left for a 10 gallon that wasn't broke. I won't be buying another one of them. It looked like a really nice one.
And to top it off I had did the initial treatment and then today (3 days later,) I added the aquarium salt after doing a 50% water change then added the metronidazole. I then happened to reread the label to see what their directions were and the 2nd ingredient is aquraium salt which means it could be 49% aquarium salt and 51% metro so not only was I adding a bit more salt but my dosage could be half. And for the price I paid it should have been pure :\ Anyway, I looked up flagyl on the net before I went out of town and it was listed as a perscription med.
But the little trooper was breathing more (can't blame him with a near 20 degree spike in temp,) but still swimming around exploring his tiny temporary cage. His bloat has not got any better or worse, I wonder if it's a girl fish and has ovary problems or something else. I think it's been almost a month since I noticed and no change yet so what problems could last this long before causing either death or swim bladder problems or lack of movement/curiousity?
 
Doesn't have any raised scales so I wasn't thinking it was dropsy. It could be eggs, there is somthing white sticking out that is kinda round shaped I just noticed. I wonder if it's a girl and the pike cichlid is a guy.
Anything to do to her to lay eggs if that's what it is? Would it make her constipated too? Didn't think they swelled up that much, I didn't even notice a difference in my angelfish before she laid eggs. I want to do whatever I can to help but there are so many causes I read about and know real way I can tell a difference. Like kidney failure, ovarian cysts, hexamatia, dropsy, etc. And since meds are poison I do worry I'm doing the wrong thing. The pike doesn't show any signs of being sick and they were in the same tank together for months.
 
hey guys. what exactly do you mean by raised scales? I have a blood parrot and i recently noticed his(her?) belly is getting sort of swollen. i have been doing some reading to try to find out what the deal is.
 
sevenspeed. why do you want to kill your fish??? im pretty sure that wouldnt cure whatever it has... it would um... kill it.

the easiest way to go about doing this is pouring a bottle of rubbing alcohol into your 10 gal and let the fish intoxicate itself till death. ive found this the easiest/quickest way of putting down fish in the past, i dont like the thought of cutting it up or flushing it
 
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